Pharmacy Residents Developing Teaching Skills during the Pharmacy Practice Residency Program
INTRODUCTION
In 2003, Moy and Musing reported the results of a survey of 137 pharmacists who had recently graduated from Canadian hospital pharmacy residency programs. The survey was designed as a learning needs assessment of the pharmacy practice residency from the perspective of recent residents, to determine if the program was meeting their needs. The results of the survey provided valuable information and revealed strong resident satisfaction with the program. However, in that study, as well as in previous studies of US-based pharmacy residency programs, residents identified teaching skills as an area they wished to develop through more exposure and practice.
When asked to identify any personal goals they had set for themselves before entering the program, 53% of the recent residency graduates surveyed by Moy and Musing mentioned the development of teaching skills. However, less than a third felt strongly that the program had helped them to achieve this goal. In fact, when asked what they had to learn on their own once they were out in practice, many of the respondents mentioned teaching. Respondents had wanted the opportunity to work with students and to take responsibility for students’ learning during their residency, yet the residency program had not given them opportunities of this type, despite the expectation from the profession that they assume the roles of teacher and preceptor for undergraduate students upon graduation from the program.
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On the basis of the survey results, Moy and Musing developed a set of recommendations focused on key areas of concern identified. Included among these was a recommendation to offer clinical teaching opportunities for residents, such as working with pharmacy undergraduate students during the clinical practicum. They suggested that such initiatives might result in more effective future preceptors for the residency program, given that residents are expected to take on responsibility for students upon completion of the program. These thought-provoking suggestions served as the springboard for a closer look at the role of the residency program in helping residents to develop teaching and precepting skills.
